The proposed action-research project is designed to systematically examine the relationship between family networks (extended and fictive), ethnicity, and public mental health service utlization among Mexican Americans. The purpose is to determine the extent to which the utilization of public mental health service is related to accessibility of mental health facilities or to the presence and usage of cultural mechanisms (e.g., family and/or community mental health interceptors) and supporting cultural norms (e.g., extent of ethnic identificaton). Hypotheses for each of the major variables of interest have been generated and will be tested by means of data gathered from a survey and in-depth interviews with Mexican Americans in three Southern California communities. The research to be conducted over a span of four years and to incorporate 900 Mexican American informants in the first year, 720 in the second, and 180 in the third and fourth years seeks: (a) To obtain information on the accessibility of public mental health facilities available to Mexican Americans. Accessibility refers to both the actual physical availability of public mental health facilities in Mexican American communities as well as the perceived accessibility of these services by Mexican Americans. (b) To obtain information on the importance of family networks (extended and fictive) in providing a support structure for those family members undergoing psychological stress. Coupled with this will be an analysis of the specific interactions through which certain family members intercept the mental health problems of their kin. (c) To obtain longitudinal information on the coping mechanisms, support structures, and public service agency interactions of Mexican Americans who are experiencing life stresses. Outcomes of the research include the development of diagnostic instruments for treatment assessment purposes as well as recommendations for making public mental health facilities more accessible to the Mexican American community.